The Paladin's Shadow; Professor Zinksfeld

Credits; Petra, Zink,

"You ready for school honey?"
"Mom, I'm a teacher, not a student.  I don't need to be told to get up and pack a lunch anymore."
"Well I had Joan make a sandwich and a themos of punch anyways, they're waiting for you on the table.  And,"  Her mother pulled an hourglass out from under the long, hooded black robe of her office.  "Apparently you do need me to wake you up because its five minutes until class starts."
"Oh *Bleep*"  Petra stopped as she heard the shrill sound of her curse being censored.  She'd forgotten that her mother had that enchantment. 
"Petra, language.  Now get going."

Petra teleported down to the kitchen and grabbed her lunch. 
"Passez une bonne journée au travail Petra"
"Thank you Joan.  Keep an eye on Mom for me."
"Bonté divine! Cela prendrait une armée."
Petra laughed and teleported to the circle she'd already prepared in her classroom.  The school normally prevented being teleported into from outside, but she knew a pattern that allowed her to bypass the enchantment.  A sort of private backdoor, one that only she could use.  Strictly speaking it was against school code, but the code was more what you'd call guidelines.  Besides, all of the other teachers bent the code somewhere along the way.   Maybe it was having a favorite student, or a few unapproved textbooks, short of consorting with demons or aiding others in doing so you could get away with anything if you tried.  And Petra was certainly not the sort to consort with demons.  Indeed, quite the opposite; she was well known for having slain one while she had been a student herself. 

"Good morning Class.  My name is...I thought I told them I wanted a chalkboard?  My name is Petra Zinksfeld."
"Good morning Professor Zinksfeld."
"Petra would have done fine, but I rather like the sound of that..Professor Zinksfeld."  She stared off into space for a minute before looking back at the class.  "Right, sorry.  This is my first day and you're my first class.  I'm not quite used to this."
She could almost hear crickets. 
"Anyways.  How about we start at the begining, eh?"
More crickets.
"How many of you have already read your books?"
She was going to be hiring an exterminator to kill all these crickets. 
"Nobody, really?  Ok, how many of you have bought your books?"
She heard the first cricket and snapped, mentally and physically.  A torrent of energy bolts leapt from between her fingers and sought out every cricket in the room, killing them all.  Everyone reacted, a few of the kids screamed, one fell out of his chair, most applauded her display of magic. 
"Quiet!"  Nobody disobeyed.  "I have,"  She looked around her desk and then snapped, summoning the forgotten papers.  "Your syllabus's, Syllabi...I have your book lists, schedules, and such like here on my desk.  Come up here and get one, then return to your desk, read it over, and go buy your books.  They'll be in the shop in town.  I will wait here until you get back.  And You Will Get Back."
The students filed out rather quickly.  They were all first year students.  School policy was that new teachers started with only the first year class, and added new classes as the older students graduated.  The phasing process helped retiring teachers to mentor their successors and to get the new teachers built up to the ten or more classes a week that they'd be doing once the old teacher was phased out.  They varied in age, and other than a few cosmetic...curiosities..none of them struck her as especially talented.  Perhaps they would prove themselves later, but they all seemed like rather run of the mill powerful mages.  And as an exceptionally powerful mage herself, she could call the most powerful mages enrolled that year run of the mill.  Most of the other teachers were no more powerful than any of the students, but her mother had the nigh god-like power inherrant with being Death Herself and Petra had inherrited more than her fair share of that power.  That she had also inherrited her Father's impressive Enchantment skills was just a bonus by comparrison. 

"Miss Zinksfeld, a word with you?"  It was Miss Abernum, the chief hall monitor.  In an underglorified sense she was the chief of school police.  It was a rather unrespected position, especially considering the fact that the last fifteen people to hold her position had all been murdered over summer break and she had closed all of the cases safe in the knowledge that the students would solve them all soon enough on their own.  Petra herself had solved several such murders when she was a student, and had long wondered why the position wasn't simply filled with death row convicts in order to reduce legal fees. 
"A word?  Alright, but is it alright if I keep it in my bag?  I don't feel like carrying it around all the time."
"Very funny Miss.  I want to speak with you about the first year students I just saw leaving the campus."
"They didn't have their books.  I expect them to have their books by next class so I sent them to get them now."
"First year students are not permitted off campus."
"Then how are they supposed to get their books?"
"That isn't my problem."
Petra decided not to press the issue.  It was stupid, but the next chief hall monitor might feel different, and by next week there would be a new chief hall monitor.